Here’s a story for you about someone who has been slacking off recently. Once upon a time there was a king and a queen…
Queen: Here you are, my dashing husband. Are you hiding from me?
King: Not from you. But I want to hide from the others.
Queen: You can’t hide, you’re the king, you have duties and responsibilities to take care of. And you’ve been slacking off recently. What’s the matter?
King: If I went on a short vacation, would you cover for me?
Queen: If you want me to, I won’t defy your order. But don’t you have to issue a decree giving me royal power for the time you’re away?
King: No biggie. Actually I already wrote it. You just have to countersign it.
Queen: I’ll revivify the country’s economy. I’ll restore law and order. Under my tyrannical rule people will pay more taxes and they won’t be allowed to go to court, I will…
King: Hey, darling, I think I’ll put off the vacation until some later time. And now I’ll get to work.
Queen: Well, it’s about time!
Vocabulary
| dashing | (of a man or a man’s appearance) attractive and impressive in a way that shows confidence |
| slack off | to do sth with less effort or energy than you did it with before |
| cover for sb | to help you by doing your job when you are away or not able to do it |
| defy | to refuse to obey sth or sb |
| decree | an official order given by a person with power or by a government |
| No biggie. | It’s not a problem. |
| countersign | to sign (a document) after another person has already signed it especially to show that it is valid or authentic |
| revivify /riˈvɪvəˌfaɪ/ | to make strong, healthy, or active again |
| restore | to put or bring sth back into existence or use |
| tyrannical | using power over people in a way that is cruel and unfair |
| go to court | to start a lawsuit |
| it’s about time | used to say often in an annoyed way that sth should have happened sooner |